According to research and forecast from STR and Tourism Economics, the hotel industry is projected to report significant declines across demand, occupancy, ADR, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. While travel has come to a virtual standstill due to the outbreak, the market is expected to regain its footing in the latter part of the year and next year. As Corona Virus keep shaking the travel and hospitality industry, it’s crucial for hotels, museums, airlines and others to have an action plan to address this issue.
How? By staying close and relevant to customers through social media.
Travel and hospitality businesses could take leverage from the increasing usage of social media. I realized that social media has become amusement park where people could escape and have some fun during the pandemic. As someone who work to provide Melbourne SEO services, I would highly advice travel and hospitality businesses to start creating valuable and entertaining contents around their services. Creating content that provide a lot of value while everybody must practice social distancing and stay at home is a great way to lift the spirits of past guests who currently can’t travel or visit your destination.
Here are some great content examples you can create:
- Live with The Chef. You’re not only share iconic recipe but also provide free cooking lesson guided by your hotel’s chef.
- Virtual Visit. You can create this content by taking pictures and videos of your site from first person perspective. The Key is to create a virtual experience for your customer that could mirror real-life experience.
- Travel the World Social Post Series. Invite people to travel the world virtually by sharing first-person photos of each destination and something special about the destination.
- Special Music Playlist: Create and share playlists with themes related to the hotel brand or destination. These playlists could evoke emotions and memories that your customers felt when they visit your site. Create playlists that people can use for different activities such as working out or cooking.
- Home Workout. Since nobody can hit the gym home workout is the best alternative to stay active. If your hotel offers group activities or fitness classes, create workout or instructional videos that customers can follow to stay active at home.
I know in this difficult period there is not much you can do. But I truly believe in the resilience of this industry. We know the future will be brighter.